Google Plans to Sell eBooks, Challenge Amazon

In a move that looks like Google trying to go head-to-head with Amazon, Google announced today that it will launch a program allowing publishers to sell digital version of their books directly to consumers. While Amazon currently dominates the eBook market, this move by Google could put a serious dent in Amazon's eBook traffic. More after the jump.

Expected to launch by the end of the year, Google will allow partner publishers to sell access to their titles. Unlike Amazon who caters more toward the specific Kindle format, Google will allow users to buy access to their phone, eBook reader or even just their plain old computer - whichever format they may need. Although we doubt they're going to do much in the Kindle format. Just a thought.

However, the big difference, and the catch comes from the fact that consumers wouldn't be able to keep the electronic copy of the books permanently. According to the Wall Street Journal, users will only be able to download and store the titles in a temporary cache on their internet browsers. That is a real downside. Few things in life bring more pleasure than re-reading my favorite books. The other downside is that Google isn't setting a price on the eBooks. Each title's price will be determined by the publishers.

Google has a lot of digital books available. But will they be able to challenge Amazon? At this point, it doesn't look likely. Many eBook stores can't even come close to matching the $9.99 average price from the online retailer giant, and we doubt Google's publishers will be willing to go that low. But it is Google, and they seem to have the Midas touch on a lot of their projects. So we'll withhold serious judgment until we hear more details.

Until then, you can keep up with the latest tech news with these other blog posts:

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